Contents

Plot

Homer leaves
work, and when he's reminded that his diet is starting, he decides to have one last
binge at Springfield's Fast-Food
Boulevard. After filling up, he decides to throw away his wrappers
and the contents of his car in a trash can outside of a Krusty Burger, tossing away a leaky battery and a lit match. The acid from the leaky
battery eats a hole in a gas main, with the lit match igniting the
gas. A fire starts which soon causes nearby gas pipes to explode,
destroying Fast-Food Boulevard completely.

At a town hall meeting, the enraged residents of Springfield demand that Fast-Food Boulevard
be rebuilt immediately. To fund the reconstruction, a bond measure
is proposed. As the next election is too far in the future, Mayor Quimby moves it to
the upcoming weekend, making Springfield's presidential primary the
first in the nation. Candidates and reporters head to
Springfield when they hear the news. Lisa soon discovers that none of the
candidates in the election are compelling.

The candidates flock to the Simpsons, who are undecided. Their home
is filled with people and their yard is covered with reporters;
helicopters and news vans surround the lot. Kent Brockman asks
Moe which party he likes, Moe replies, "I like girls." When Kent
asks if he is a registered voter, Moe says that he is a "registered something". When
voting day arrives, an angry Homer and other citizens hold a
meeting in Moe's Tavern. Homer suggests the people
vote for the most ridiculous candidate, whom they choose after Chief
Wiggum suggests himself. The same night, Kent Brockman
announces an unexpected turn of events: Springfield has rejected
all the leading candidates and voted for 8-year-old Ralph Wiggum, who
wins the primary, much to the shock of Lisa Simpson.

Ralph is immediately spurred as the leading candidate, and Homer
and Bart embrace
him by becoming his fans. Lisa, however, is miserable, as she knows
how slow Ralph is. A news report (called Headbutt) shows Ralph has
no idea of which party's nomination he is seeking. The Springfield
Republican Party
decides to fight for Ralph, knowing certain victory will come
during the election. The Springfield Democratic Party knows
that greatness will come once they win Ralph over. The leaders of
the Republican and Democratic parties break into Ralph's home,
wanting to fight for him. Lisa confronts Ralph amongst the media
frenzy, attempting to convince him to not run. Ralph tells Lisa he
wants to run so he can bring peace between warring nations. He is
proven to be a formidable candidate, and both the Republicans and
the Democrats support Ralph for president. The episode ends with a
political commercial for
Ralph, sponsored
by both parties.[1]

Cultural
references

Former President Bill Clinton is seen putting up campaign
signs for his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton.
Later, in the commercial for Ralph, Bill announces his support for
him, adding "but don't tell you-know-who" - an obvious reference to
his appearance earlier in the episode, when Hillary whines at him
over the phone.[2]

Reception

An estimated 8.2 million people tuned into the episode.[4]
Richard Keller of TV Squad said that it was an episode with
many jokes and sight gags, his favorite being the episode's guest
stars and the many references.[2]
His only disagreement was the abrupt ending.[2]
Robert Canning of IGN said the
episode had all the ingredients that seem to make it a classic
episode.[5] He
enjoyed the theme of Homer and Fast-Food Boulevard, the political
mocking, and the centering of Ralph, and like Keller, he felt the
show seemed to shun Ralph until the end; he gives the episode a
rating of 6/10.[5] Dan
Snierson of Entertainment Weekly reveals (five
days after the episode was broadcast) that it received positive
reviews from the site, and Ralph Wiggum had their vote.[6]

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Controversy

The episode caused controversy in Argentina prior to its broadcast there. The
controversy is over an exchange between Lenny and Carl. Carl says "I could really go for
some kind of military dictator, like Juan Perón. When he
'disappeared' you, you stayed
'disappeared!'". Carl's comment is a reference to the Dirty War in Argentina, a
period of military dictatorship during which as many as 30,000
political dissidents disappeared, and is largely regarded as having
begun at least two years after the death of Perón, who was elected
three times. The clip was viewed on YouTube over ten thousand times in Argentina
and some politicians in the country called for the episode to be
censored or banned.[7]

Lorenzo Pepe, former Argentinian congressman and president of
the Juan Domingo Perón Institute said "this type of program causes
great harm, because the disappearances are still an open wound
here."[8]
Some reacted negatively to Lenny's response to Carl's comment:
"Plus, his wife was Madonna", a
reference to the film Evita where Madonna played Eva Perón. Pepe added
"the part about Madonna—that was too much."[8]
Pepe's request for banning the episode was rejected by the Federal
Broadcasting Committee of Argentina on freedom of speech grounds.[9]

In an unprecedented decision, Fox decided not to air the episode
in Latin
America. In an e-mail sent later to the media, the network said
that this decision was based on "the possibility that the episode
would contribute to reopen wounds very painful to Argentina". The
Federal Broadcasting Committee made it clear that the episode was
not aired in Argentina by Fox's own choice.[9]